


If I Die Young (The Aftermath)

by ImACatWithABat



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt No Comfort, Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:28:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27706949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImACatWithABat/pseuds/ImACatWithABat
Summary: So yeah... sorry about that. I’m feeling very ✨sad✨ right now, so obviously I had to write angst. Well, hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to leave kudos or a comment, I always make sure to read all the comments! Have a nice day/night! :)
Relationships: Alex & Bobby | Trevor Wilson, Bobby | Trevor Wilson & Luke Patterson, Bobby | Trevor Wilson & Reggie
Comments: 5
Kudos: 53





	If I Die Young (The Aftermath)

Nothing could’ve really prepared Bobby for the night of the Orpheum. What should have been the best night of his life turned nightmarish. He remembers hearing the sirens, and running out to the street with Rose. He remembers the drizzle of rain pelting his face as blue and red lights illuminate the cold brick walls. He remembers the three joyful expressions warped into agony. He wants to forget, but no. He remembers.

He was there when they passed. He told the paramedics he was Luke’s brother. He doesn’t think he told a lie. Whenever he thinks of Sunset Curve, all he sees are ghosts of what they used to be. Instead of Alex’s stern lectures and his serious face trying to hide a smile, he sees his eyes scrunched up in pain as he hunches over and vomits. Instead of Luke’s dreamy expressions and passion-filled rants, he sees his friend unconscious, with what seems like hundreds of tubes protruding from his body. And it hurts most to see Reggie’s eyes blank and his jaw slack, instead of eyes filled with laughter, and that stupid smirk on his face.  
It really was a night that changed his life.

Alex’s funeral shouldn’t have even been called a funeral. His parents had pretty much disowned him by the time he died. He still lived in that stuffy, polished house, but no one talked to him. No one cared about him.

The burial reflected that rather well. There wasn’t a service, no honoring their dead son. And despite the family money, Alex’s casket was made out of the cheapest materials they could get. No one had bought flowers, or ribbons to decorate the site.

Barely anyone showed up either. No aunts, uncles, cousins, or grandparents. Just his mother and father, and his two younger sisters.

His mother looked at the casket like it was a source of disappointment. Like something that could’ve been fixed, but wasn’t. She doesn’t say anything, just stands and lets a few tears fall down her cheek.

His father just looked angry. He didn’t want to be there, and said so in his eulogy. He called Alex useless and embarrassing, and said that this was the best possible outcome. Dead before he could hurt the family image even more. Bobby stands with Alex’s sisters, and hopes it’s some strange grief making them act this way. But something tells him it’s not.

Alex’s sisters are ten and seven. They’re too young to understand their parents' hatred. They just miss their brother. Penelope, the ten year old, plucks a daisy from the grass, and lays on top of the coffin. Ellen, the youngest, had insisted that they put her favorite teddy bear with her brother. She’d told her parents that she always needed it to sleep, and now Alex would want it since he was sleeping forever.

Alex’s grave isn’t much to look at. It’s the plainest headstone you can buy. All it reads is his name, “Alex John Mercer”. There are no flowers, flags, or ornaments. Just gray stone, and a cold body in the ground.

Luke’s funeral is next. There’s a service this time, at a park that Luke liked to write in. There are more people too. It’s not just Bobby and Luke’s parents, but also the aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents that were missing from Alex’s. Everyone is upset too. No one is angry or cold to Luke. They’re just sad. Bobby thinks it must be nicer that way.  
The service is beautiful.

Mitch reads a quote from Luke’s favorite childhood novel, and chokes up before he can finish. The priest talks about heaven and the bible, and it’s nice. It’s not as judgemental as the religion in Alex’s burial. It sings of hope and peace, not hatred and disownment.  
As he finishes his speech, Mitch cries. He’s almost silent about it, shoulders shaking quietly, and holding his wife close. Bobby can’t blame him. He may have lost his friends, but Mitch lost his only child.

Emily is much louder with her grief. She sobs during the entire event, even as she speaks softly to the casket. As Bobby leaves, he can hear a scream echo through the park. A desperate plea for her son. He almost turns back before continuing down towards the parking lot.

Luke’s grave is simple, but cared for. Its inscription is nice, “Luke Joseph Patterson, beloved son, and talented musician,". There’s never a speck of dust, or a weed on the lawn. His family decorates it with ribbons and dahlias, all in Luke’s favorite colors. There are notes left too, talking about who married who, or who graduated. Bobby even leaves flowers there one day. He’s about to sign a music deal, and he feels so guilty about using, no stealing, Luke’s songs. So, he leaves flowers and an apology.

Bobby had always been closest with Reggie. They would spend rehearsals joking and laughing, and Bobby knew that he could always count on his best friend. Reggie and Bobby were friends the longest, and while he was protective over everyone in the band, Bobby would kill anyone who hurt Reggie.

Reggie’s funeral is at the beach near his house. They drag the coffin and photos of him through the sandy grass, until it all rests at the bottom of a hill. It’s a gorgeous view, and Bobby wishes that Reg could see it. The waves are nice too. They play a lovely tune as they crest and turn over in the sea. And then they’re gone, too soon.

There’s no mention of God or religion at this service. Just memories and photos shared to all the people who cared about Reggie. There’s one from when he was ten, on Christmas morning. He’s holding a bass in his hands, and he smiles so brightly in the picture that all his teeth are showing. In another, he looks around three, and he’s completely covered in ink. His parents had left him in the backseat with art supplies, and his unblemished face was stained with red marker. That story makes Bobby grin a little. Then he remembers why he’s there.

Reggie’s mom and dad are able to keep it together for longer than Bobby expected. They make it through the speeches and service. They read their words and cry over their dead child.

It’s not until they’re at the graveyard, lowering the casket into the ground that a fight breaks out. Soon his mom is screaming at her husband about some tiny, stupid detail. His father shouts about how Reggie might not even be his son. It escalates from there, and the moment is poisoned by that argument forever. Bobby cries harder, because the last thing Reg would’ve wanted was fighting at his funeral. Bobby can’t bring himself to yell at his dead best friend’s parents though. So the yelling continues for a while longer.

Reggie’s grave is forgotten soon. It’s 2001, and Bobby is twenty-three. The inscription is still the same, “Reginald Jean Peters”. He’s the only one who still visits it. Reggie’s mom moved to Florida, and his dad went to Maine. Bobby leaves flowers every other week, and cries when he gets home. He doesn’t remember Reggie as well as he wants to. Even though images of his death are seared into his memory, Bobby forgets what Reggie looks like when he’s excited, and how he sounds as he snorts with laughter. At least he can’t forget his bestfriend’s voice. He still has the demo, and as long as he has that, Reggie is still a little alive.

Bobby is fourty-two, and three deaths and three funerals are still remembered. Three faces are still fresh in his mind, and that’s why he’s shocked when Rose’s daughter is playing the Orpheum with them. He almost runs out of the theater. All he sees when Julie and the Phantoms plays are those three deathly expressions and three caskets being lowered into the ground.

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah... sorry about that. I’m feeling very ✨sad✨ right now, so obviously I had to write angst. Well, hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to leave kudos or a comment, I always make sure to read all the comments! Have a nice day/night! :)


End file.
